If we were all to redirect a mere 5% of the billions of dollars that we already spend each year on gifts, there would be enough to eliminate extreme poverty in about 15 years.
UEnd:Poverty. Gift different.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Friday Photo
Here is a close-up of some children in Koinadugu, Sierra Leone, working away in school. This northern province of the country is benefiting from the ‘Igniting Imaginations through Library Learning’ project headed by CAUSE Canada.
To learn more about this project, click here.
Project Of The Week: Micro-Loans For AIDS Orphans Caregivers (Year 1)
Project Snapshot
Total Cost: $5,084
Lives Affected: 109
Dollars Raised: $3,629
Dollars Needed: $1,455
Our partners at ‘True Vision Ghana’ are heading a project in Wa, Upper-West Region, Ghana, to assist those caregivers who must take care of at least one AIDS orphan, aside from their family.
Northern Ghana is the most impoverished region in Ghana, and one of the most poverty-stricken areas in Africa. Most of the caregivers have multiple jobs already and do not have big enough profit margins to receive a loan from the bank.
True Vision Ghana hopes to engage these caregivers in the Economic Empowerment Program by giving them small 200 GHS (approximately 126 CDN) loans for a 1-year term with the purpose of starting or expanding a small business to generate income.
To learn more about this project, click here.
Join the UEnd:Poverty movement and help change the world with a $5/month membership to U:Powered. Learn how by clicking here.
Friday Photo
A picture of a couple of young children who will benefit from the ‘Child Learning Centre’ project. Our partners at ‘Atzin’ are heading this project, and it is located in Tlamacazapa, State of Guerrero, Mexico.
To learn more about this project, click here.
Project Of The Week: Micro-Credit for Families of Malnourished Children
Project Snapshot:
Project Cost: $ 5,500
Lives Affected: 5,000
Dollars Raised: $ 125
Dollars Needed: $ 5,375
Change for Children is teaming up with their partner organization, KIHEFO (Kigezi Healthcare Foundation), by assisting families/entrepreneurs in Kabale, Uganda, who have been affected by civil strife and HIV/AIDS.
This project was initiated as a response to the growing need for financial assistance required by extended family members having to take in orphaned children.
Many families living in the area simply need a helping hand in the form of a small investment for increasing agricultural production or enhancing entrepreneurial skills and abilities.
To learn more about this project, click here…
Join the UEnd:Poverty movement and help change the world with a $5/month membership to U:Powered. Learn how by clicking here…
Friday Photo
A group of people in a small village in Kabale, Uganda, who are benefiting from the Eco-Stove Solution project headed by Change For Children.
To learn more about this project, Click Here.
Project Of The Week: Literacy Training- Creating Opportunity
Project Snapshot:
Project Cost: $5,000
Lives Affected: 200+
Dollars Raised: $2,226
Dollars Needed: $2,774
$5000 will enable 25 women in a village to take literacy classes for one year, including health, human rights and financial management training. Their savings are also matched for a household project.
This five-year project will improve the quality of life and standard of living for families living in marginalized communities through the promotion of
1) Education
2) Leadership
3) Health
4) Economic development
Students will be given the opportunity to accumulate savings in a formal financial institution during their participation in classes as part of financial training.
CAUSE Canada is an organization focused on the implementation of responsive, integrated community development in parts of the world where international assistance programs are under-represented.
To learn more about this project, click here.
Join the UEnd:Poverty movement and help change the world with a $5/month membership to U:Powered. Learn how by clicking here.
Friday Photo
Photo of some kids in Nicaragua who’ll benefit from the secondary school project being developed by Change for Children.
To learn more about the project, click here »
POTW: “Motlan” Dental Clinic and Oral Health Program
Snapshot
Project cost: $4,900
Lives affected: 2,640
Dollars raised: $377
Dollars needed: $4,263
The sorry state of most villagers’ teeth, both in terms of caries and gingivitis, attest to the real need for low cost dental services, oral hygiene education and better nutrition. There are various reasons for the deteriorated condition of people’s teeth:
1) Their level of poverty, which doesn’t allow them to receive dental care
2) A general lack of knowledge about oral health care
3) Increased intake of foods high in sugar content
4) Chronic exposure to metal toxins from water and soil
Atzin, an organization working in Mexico since 1997, has set up a dental clinic and have been training hygienists since then. Costs are kept low for regular adult visits and free for impoverished elderly and children under 13. Results have been excellent and Atzin looks forward to training more dentists and helping more people.
To learn more about this project click here »
Join the UEnd:Poverty movement and help change the world with a $5/month membership to U:Powered. Learn how »
Friday Photo
A sign at Change For Children’s water well project in Sierra Leone acknowledging supporters back in Alberta, Canada.
Visit the project page to learn more: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/73
World Water Day – 5 questions with 3 partners. Part 3.
It’s World Water Day…
…And we have the pleasure of working with fantastic organizations doing great things around the world to help eradicate global extreme poverty. A few of our partners are specifically targeting water, making it easier for people to access clean, healthy drinking water. So we asked each partner 5 questions about their take on the current water crisis and what people can do to help.
(Part 3 of 3)
From Shelaine, who works with our partner Change for Children as they build water wells in in the Romano Village region of Sierra Leone: 
What’s your take on the current water crisis?
Water is sacred – it is fundamental to life – and it is a human right. Management of this precious and threatened commons needs to be the responsibility of everyone and requires collective and cooperative stewardship.
How is your organization trying to help?
CFCA has made water a priority – by encouraging awareness and action here at home in addition to advocating for support for our southern partners. We work with schools who have really become water champions by learning, teaching and fundraising. The real life stories of our Nicaraguan partners really resonate with school kids – they hear about our project partners and examine water issues locally and they really get it – and they want to do something about it.
What can WE (North Americans) do to help?
Start by being aware of your own water usage and your needs. Also we need to be stewards of this resource, to educate our children and our communities, to speak up …and simply not allow our water sources to be contaminated, depleted or commodified – and we need to apply this thinking to everyone, everywhere. Contributing to the Nicaragua Water Project is one way to make a real impact today and by demonstrating solidarity with people facing the crisis day to day.
Tell us something we don’t know about water.
For Canada, the average (per capita) daily domestic water use is 343 litres of water whereas in Nicaragua it is about 10 litres. The impact of a safe community well, locally managed is transformative -especially for women and girls who are often the ones charged with (and trapped by) the responsibility of finding water on a daily basis.
Who are some other people or organizations doing great things around water?
Locally, we have the North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper who’s mission is to ensure the north Saskatchewan watershed is safe for drinking swimming and fishing as well as informing citizens of their rights to clean waters.
Nationally (and globally), The Council of Canadians has been one of the strongest voices in the campaign to address water issues.
In Nicaragua, our partner organization Centro Humboldt is amazing in their effective and holistic approach to the water crisis in Nicaragua – from working with rural communities on access and management to advocating for laws to stop water privatization.
To learn more about the Romano Village water well project, to donate, or to give as a gift card to someone, click here.
